When Words Get In The Way
by SkItZoFrEaK
Summary: Revised/Reposted Part four of Amber's brainchild is about to come to fruition, in a twisty plot that even Sarah may not survive...
1. Awkward Secrets

Notes/Disclaimers/Warnings: The 'Words' Saga, begun by Amber and continued by SkItZoFrEaK, now is about to go even further with the combined efforts of Amber and myself. You lucky people you. A quick note of recommendation: Read the preceding stories ('Say Your Words' and 'When Words Aren't Enough' in Amber's folder, and 'Mere Words' and 'Family History' in SkItZoFrEaK's folder) before attempting to understand this continuation. Or not. The choice, of course, is yours. (Psss...by the way...if you recognize any characters in here - they obviously aren't mine, are they?)   
  
**  
  
"When Words Get In The Way"  
Part Four of the 'Words' Saga  
  
**  
  
It was raining on the moor. That wasn't unusual; it often rains. What was unusual was the harsh quality of this rain; especially since it was the middle of spring. This rain was of the winter storms at sea; it came down in raging torrents, in fat, freezing drops carried on ripping, howling winds. Mothers in their little homes, tucked their children under the covers tightly and whispered, "Don't be afraid, me dearest - 'tis jus' th' Bean Sidhe throwin' a bit of a temper tantrum. Sure won't it quiet down in a bit? You jus' sleep now, dear."  
  
And as the children snuggled deep and closed their eyes, the mothers would walk by the build up the fire or turn up the heater if they lived in more modern homes, and exchange worried looks with their husbands. "It'll pass, ye see. Jus' a squall, is all," the husbands would whisper comfortingly. "Isn't it a good thing you brought the chickens in, then?"  
  
And the mothers would smile tightly and nod, knowing they lied, but drawing comfort nonetheless.  
  
And outside, the winds would howl and scream and the rain would beat mercilessly on the world, and a thin, high child's cry would be lost in the uproar.  
  
'Mama!'  
  
****  
  
*Uh oh*  
  
That wasn't a particularly great thought to start a visit off with, but there it was. Sarah smiled down at her little brother, Toby, as he raced to throw his arms around her waist. "Hey, kid, what've you been up to?" She asked, trying not to notice the guilty look on his face when he drew away.  
  
"Uh, nothin' really." He replied, casually not looking at her face. "C'mon in, Mom and Dad are waitin' for you."  
  
Sarah felt her eyebrows fly up to her hairline as she listened. There was a definite stammer in his normally over-enthusiastic voice. "Okay, Toby, what did you do?"  
  
"Aw, geez, Sarah, you're so paranoia."  
  
"Paranoid," she corrected. "And whenever you get that look on your face, I usually have a reason to be." She stepped into the house, pulling the door shut behind her. She'd appeared outside the house instead of directly in Toby's room for this visit, after all, it would seem rather suspicious if she just came walking out of his room.   
  
"Sarah! There you are! We were beginning to think you'd be late." Sarah's dad came out of the kitchen just then, and in an instant Toby had disappeared up the stairs.   
  
"Hey! Come back here, you!" she called up after him, but it was no good. He was long gone.  
  
Robert Williams chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll get him." And he went trotting up the stairs after his son. A little too eagerly.  
  
*Is it just me,* she reflected, *Or is everyone in a hurry to leave the room? Oh great. Now I know something is really wrong here.* For a moment, she entertained the idea of simply turning around and walking back out. Obviously this wasn't a good place to be at the moment.   
  
Before she had a chance to think further, she noticed Karen in the kitchen door. And Sarah felt the vague sense of suspicion turn into full-blown worry. It wasn't the way Karen was clutching that dishrag like she wanted to shred it. It wasn't the way her lips were drawn into a thin, white line. It wasn't even the narrowed eyes and the slightly raised eyebrow.  
  
It was the stance. Feet spread slightly apart, hands planted on hips, head stiff as stone...Karen Williams was a woman about to charge into battle. "I think," she said slowly. "I think you have something to tell us, Sarah."  
  
*Oh yes* Sarah mentally nodded. *Definitely should have turned around.*   
  
**  
  
Karen led her back into the kitchen, and indicated that she take out a chair. Then, she turned and faced the stairwell. "Tobias Jordan Williams! You and your father come out of your hiding spot and get your tails down here NOW!"  
  
Upstairs, she heard the door creak open, and two reluctant pairs of footsteps.  
  
Karen returned to the table and seated herself, hands folded in her lap. A moment later, Toby and his dad appeared in the kitchen and made their way to their own chairs. Sarah tried to catch their eyes, but neither would look at her.  
  
"So," Karen said, sounding almost calm.  
  
"So," Sarah agreed carefully, still trying to get some kind of clue from her family's faces.  
  
"I was having a chat with Toby this morning," Karen started. She paused, and looked at her husband. "We were having a chat with Toby this morning," she amended.   
  
Another pause. Robert dared to meet Karen's eyes, and immediately wished he hadn't. She was watching him with an obviously expectant look in her eyes. He sighed. How did this get pushed off on him?  
  
"Sarah, honey, Toby tells us...well...you see, we know you're an adult now, and we really want you to be your own individual and take care of yourself, but we still want to be part of your life, and when he told us, and you hadn't told us, we felt a little hurt, well, very hurt, that you hadn't told us yourself, so we just wanted to bring it up, but we're not accusing you or anything like that, just asking you and wanting to know why, that is, that you didn't tell us yourself."  
Sarah stared at him blankly. "Um, Dad?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What your father is trying to say," Karen interrupted, "is that Toby mentioned a man named Jareth. From what Toby says, this man is very important to you."  
  
Sarah shot a look at her brother, who was suddenly very interested in the grain of the tabletop before him. How much had he told?  
  
"Yes." She nodded carefully.  
  
"He also said something along the lines of you being his wife."  
  
Ah. That much. Had he told about the pregnancy, too? She watched him again, but his face was well obscured by the blonde curls that hung just far enough to cover his eyes.   
  
Sarah looked back to her stepmother and father, and bit her lip slightly...well, she'd known she was going to have to tell them sooner or later. She'd *wanted* to tell them...but how did one tell one's parents that one has not actually been studying literature in Britain as they had been told, but had actually married the King of the Goblins and was currently a Queen of the Underground?   
  
'Oh, Dad, I just thought you should know that from now on, my name's Queen Sarah, and should you need me, call my name in the mirror and I'll drop things at the Castle Beyond the Goblin City and materialize right in the room you called from.'  
  
No.  
  
'Oh, don't mind the little goblin servants, Karen, they're just running a few errands for my husband the King while I'm here in the Aboveground. Don't worry, they aren't too pretty, but they're well behaved enough if I make them.'  
  
Nope.   
  
"Look, I'm sorry you didn't know," she said finally, picking her words with care. "It's just that...well...um...you see, he's the last remaining member of a rather old family..." she felt a story starting to formulate in the back of her head. It was a wild one, but much more believable than the truth. Calling up her acting skills, she let out a little sigh and rubbed a hand across her forehead mournfully.   
  
"There's this other family, just as old, but only a few people left. You see, the two families have been in a feud for generations, and he doesn't want anything more to do with it, but a couple of the other family's surviving members don't see it that way. " She paused, watching her parents' faces for reactions. "They try to carry out the feud. That's why he moved to Britain, to get away from them. He didn't want to get married in any kind of fuss, because since he's rather rich, the papers would probably make a big commotion about it and blow his cover. So I didn't dare tell even you. And then I felt too guilty to tell you later."  
  
She stopped and rubbed her eyes quickly, as if hiding a tear, and prayed that they would buy it.  
  
"You told Toby," her dad pointed out quietly.  
  
"Accident. He sort of figured it out after I made a careless remark or two," she shot the brother in question another dark look, and he had the grace to blush and nod.   
  
"Yeah. And I promised I wouldn't tell...um...I guess I forgot..."  
  
"So," Karen said again, and furrowed her forehead in concern. "Sarah, are you sure it's...safe...to be married to this man?"  
  
*Actually, now that you mention it, I've nearly died several times in various battles and invasions...but otherwise I'm quite safe.*  
  
"Of course, Karen. He's gone to great lengths to keep me safe." Well, that much is true, at least.  
  
"Sarah, honey," Robert reached across the table and took her hand. "I'm glad your happy, and I understand why you didn't tell us now. But I agree with Karen. Are you absolutely sure you are safe over there? Do you think you should come home for a little while? Maybe you can move here with this Jareth - "  
  
"I don't think so, Dad."  
  
Toby raised his head suddenly, and Sarah was startled to see tears in his eyes. "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry, Sarah, really really sorry, and I knew you wanted to tell 'em yourself but it was an accident, don't be mad, please?"  
  
"Hey, it's okay, kid," she reassured him. "I'm not mad. A little glad to get it off my chest, even. It'll be okay."  
  
Toby got off his chair and came around the table to hug her tightly, and Karen did likewise. Sarah hugged back, but was careful to keep her stomach well away from Karen's arms. Karen finding out she was pregnant into the bargain was just not the type of stress she needed right now.  
  
** 


	2. Thought You Ought To Know...

"When Words Get In The Way"  
Part Four of the 'Words' Saga  
  
**  
  
"Enjoy your visit?" Jareth tossed her a crystal as she walked into the study. She twirled it absently, then set it down on the desk.   
  
"It was...not what I expected."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
She bit her lip and watched the fire dance in the fireplace. Jareth took the hint and didn't press the issue. Normally, of course, this would be a challenge, and he would love to worm it out of her...but right now something slightly more pressing was at hand. "Sarah," he came up behind her and spun her around to face him. "I have news."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"We will be having guests soon."  
  
She waited.  
  
"My family will be traveling up to meet you."  
  
"Family? I didn't know about any family."  
  
"Well, it wasn't exactly a topic I felt the need to bring up."  
  
Sarah titled her head to one side, studying him. "You don't seem terribly thrilled about this."  
  
"I'm not," he said flatly, brushing a strand of brown hair from her cheek. "I don't entirely believe the story I was told. After all, I might understand Danielle's interest in you, but Ryo and Titania's? If they wanted to meet my wife that badly, they would have summoned us to their own court."  
  
"Titania? Isn't that the Queen of the Fae?"  
  
"Ah, so you are well versed in your literature."  
  
"Of course I am," she drew herself up. "You of all people should know -"  
  
He grinned at her. "My, but you are rather touchy lately, aren't you?"  
  
"Your kid," she growled in mock anger. "I have horrible hormonal surges."  
  
"'My' kid," he repeated.  
  
"Yes. 'Your' kid. I blame you."  
  
"Naturally."  
  
Sarah grinned, then asked, "So when's the arrival date? Of your family, that is."  
  
"One thing you should learn about Fae," Jareth explained, "is that 'arrival dates' are not a part of their vocabulary. They'll be here whenever they want to be here. All they told me was that they'd be here 'soon'."  
  
"So what you're saying is that 'soon' could either mean 'next month', or it could mean 'tomorrow'?" At Jareth's nod, Sarah groaned and slumped a little in defeat. "And here I thought *you* were bad, showing up unannounced in big puffs of glitter..."  
  
"I hope that isn't an invitation to start an argument," he said blandly. "Because if you're going to start criticizing my methods of entrances, I'll -"  
  
"Oh, relax," Sarah sighed, walking away from him and flopping tiredly into a nearby chair. "I'm not trying to start an argument. I'm just a little on edge."  
  
"That visit must have been worse than I thought," Jareth remarked, leaning back against his desk. He eyed her critically. "Anything you care to share, or will I have to drag it out of you later?"  
  
She chuckled softly, then sighed again and shut her eyes. The only sound for several minutes afterward was the crackling of the flames in the fireplace, but just as Jareth was about to make an excuse about having goblins to kick around, she spoke. "Toby told them," she murmured, opening her eyes and looking at her husband. By the look on his face, he had an idea of what she was telling him, but wanted her to elaborate before he said anything. "My parents. They know about our marriage."  
  
"And this is what has you so upset?"  
  
His attempt at levity rewarded him with a Look - the sort that, for centuries, had clearly told men that they weren't being very sensitive to the subject at hand. So Jareth kept quiet and allowed his wife to continue, lest her fluctuating hormones cause her to wish he would sprout wings and fly away.  
  
"Toby accidentally told them that I was married, and so my visit was spent assuring them that yes, I loved you; no, you weren't going to harm me in any way; and while we appreciated their offer of staying with them, we already had a home of our own. They're still rather anxious to meet you, however."  
  
It took a little while for Jareth to digest this information. Not that it bothered him that Sarah's parents knew she was married...it had just never occurred to him that they would find out. "I don't suppose you planned a family meeting already?"  
  
"No. I just told them that I'd bring you over soon. So in other words, it could be next month, or it could be tomorrow." She grinned impertinently at him.  
  
"You learn quickly." Jareth smiled, then pushed himself away from the desk. "We'll plan our visit later, however. I have matters to attend to right now." He turned and began to leave, but then turned right back around and looked at Sarah quizzically. "Do they know about your...."  
  
"Pregnancy?" Sarah supplied. "No, thankfully. The last thing they needed was to find out that not only did I get married without telling them, but that I was already pregnant! As it was, I had to tell them a crazy story about you being in hiding from a feuding family, and that was why I couldn't let them know about the marriage!"  
  
At this bit of news, Jareth laughed. "You'll have to tell me more about *that* later tonight. I'm going to need time to think up a suitable 'sob story', as you would put it."  
  
"I think I'll be able to help with that." Sarah smiled wryly. "I'll tell you more tonight, though. Right now, I think I'll go for a walk."  
  
Jareth nodded, and left the room.  
  
**  
  
She huddled in the cold stone room, hugging her knees to her narrow chest with thin, white arms. She sniffed, but quietly, so as not to disturb her Friend. Her Friend got angry whenever she made noise. She tried hard to be very very still, but the magic in the room made her sensitive nose itchy. She longed to let out a good, strong sneeze, but if she made her Friend mad, her Friend wouldn't help her find her mother.   
  
She squinched her eyes tight closed and pulled her knees closer, breathing softly through her mouth to avoid getting more magic in her nose. She wanted her mother. She wanted her mother right now! But her Friend said, Wait - wait and when you drain the Bad Lady, you can summon the goddess, and the goddess will take you to your mother.  
  
But she wanted her mother right now! She'd said that once aloud, but her Friend had thrown a magic at her, and the magic stung her face where it hit and made her nose itch fiercely. She didn't like it, this Fae magic, but her Friend was Fae and only Fae magic could help her find her mother again. Only the life powers of the Bad Lady channeled through her little body could summon the goddess and get her back to her mother. That's what her Friend said. Her Friend had promised she would help her get her mother back. Her Friend would get her to the Bad Lady, and then she would do the rest, and her mother would come back. In the meantime, her Friend kept her in this room, and covered over with Fae magic to keep her 'safe.'   
  
She buried her face in her knees and cast a last mournful cry to the winds for her mother.  
  
The winds moaned on, heedless.  
  
** 


	3. Prophecy and Itchy Noses

"When Words Get In The Way"  
Part Four of the 'Words' Saga  
  
**  
  
Part 3  
"If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed."  
  
It was a lovely afternoon, clouded over with pearl gray clouds, with a faint smell of rain on the gentle breeze. Sarah drank in the scent, watching the distant mountains grow darker as the clouds built. It might just storm tonight.   
  
"Sarah! There you are," Hetta's gravelly voice cut off her musings and brought her sharply back to the present. "The whole castle's being turned about lookin' for you. King's about to get mad, I think."  
  
"Why?" She asked, adding *heavens forbid the King should ever get mad* in her most sardonic mental voice.   
  
"The huri-ha'an is here."  
  
"The what?"  
  
"The huri-ha'an. They're a clairy-voy-ant type of creatures," her tongue stumbled over the long word. "It's custom for one to come in an' make a prophecy whenever somethin' big is happenin' at the castle. You know, a weddin', a funeral, a birth." She gestured to Sarah's still somewhat flat abdomen. "They didn't come fer th' wedding 'cause only a few of 'em survived the Nightmares, and those were all too young or too old to do any good prophecyin'."  
  
"Ah. Why didn't Jareth mention any of this to me?" she asked peevishly.  
Hetta gave her a speculative look. "Jareth doesn't like the huri-ha'an too much. I wasn't around then, but story has it he was a little 'un when he ran into a full grown huri-ha'an doin' a prophecy for some creature or other, and it gave 'im one to boot."  
  
"What did it say?"  
  
"Them's never very clear when makin' predictions an' such, but apparently it told 'im somethin' like a mortal would bring 'im to his knees."  
  
"And that didn't sit well with his pride." Sarah grinned.  
  
"No, it didn't. Now don't ye go teasin' 'im about that," Hetta shook a gnarled finger at her. "Ye've got enough problems without havin' another row with yer husband."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarah demanded, but at that moment, they came upon the throne room doors, and Hetta led her through.  
  
Inside, Hoggle was supervising the goblins as they marched out. Hetta ambled over to stand by him, watching as the creatures grumbled and bumped their way through the doors. Jareth was leaning casually against his throne, and he offered her a slightly annoyed expression as she made her way through the throng to his side.   
  
"Where have you been?"  
  
"In the gardens," she responded.  
  
"None of the goblins I sent found you there."  
  
"Then you shouldn't have sent goblins." Before she could go on, she suddenly caught sight of the creature standing nervously against the throne room wall, and her eyes widened.   
  
It was only about three feet high, and painfully narrow. It's skin was pale to the point of being translucent in some places, and it wore only as simple pale green robe that covered little of it's long arms and legs. The only thing that looked remotely dangerous about the fragile thing was the long, nubile, whip-like tail. The eyes, though, were what really caught her attention. Its eyes took up most of its head, large, purple eyes with no lids or pupils...it looked like an extraterrestrial, she realized. Like one of those things people who had been 'abducted' saw.  
  
"A huri-ha'an," Jareth told her. "They sometimes like to roam the Aboveground, searching for a home that was destroyed eons ago. I believe they occasionally try to ask the mortals there if they've seen it, but I don't think the mortals ever understand what they are asking."  
  
"It looks so young," she breathed, transfixed by those glistening eyes. The purple was starting to swirl as it looked at her, with hints of black mixing slowly into the whirlpools.   
  
"The young tend to see farther than the old." was his cryptic response.  
  
"It looks frightened, too."  
  
"Possibly. I am not known for my love of the huri-ha'an."  
  
"Welcome, good prophet," Sarah inclined her head graciously to the willowy creature, carefully hiding any doubts she may have about her guest's intuitive abilities. The little thing swayed on narrow feet, and then extended it's hands in some kind of complicated greeting. It's eyes stopped swirling black and purple, and instead turned white, almost luminous.   
  
Jareth laid a hand on Sarah's lower back, and loomed quietly over her shoulder. She didn't look at his face, but Sarah was pretty sure he was casting an intimidating image for the thin psychic.   
  
She was apparently right, because a shudder raked the fragile frame, and it took a few steps back. Mentally rolling her eyes, Sarah took a step away from her husband, and knelt down on the floor, putting her face on the same level as the clairvoyant. It's large, moon eyes filmed over blue and then cleared white again - *did it just blink?* She smiled with her lips only, in case baring teeth was considered threatening to these creatures.  
  
Sensing her encouragement, the huri-ha'an straightened it's lithe body, wrapped it's long arms around it's upper body and it's whip-like tail around it's legs, as if cocooning itself. Then the huge eyes misted over again, only this time with a heavy green fog, and it bowed it's head.   
  
Sarah rose and backed away quietly, so as not to disturb the luminous creature.  
  
For a long minute, all was silent in the room. After another long minute, Hoggle shifted his weight slightly and scrunched his long nose a few times, trying to ignore the sudden urge to scratch it. After the third long minute, he debated asking quietly if maybe they should go have a long lunch and come back afterwards to see if the creature was done hibernating. He resisted that urge, too, until at least well into the fourth long minute. But before he could get his mouth all the way open, Hetta somehow managed to grind her heel into his toe without even making a noise. Hoggle snapped his mouth shut again and this time concentrated on ignoring his sore foot and the overwhelming urge to scratch his nose.   
  
Odd, how badly his nose did itch. It was steadily growing worse with each passing long minute.  
  
His only satisfaction was seeing Hetta's nose twitching wildly along with his. And the other goblins in the room...and Sarah's, too, now that he noticed it. *It's all this standing still,* he thought, *Happens every time, just when you can't itch, you gotta.* Only Jareth seemed totally unaffected by the circulating itchy-nose syndrome.  
  
And then, thankfully, just before Hoggle thought he would either sneeze or die, the willowy psychic let out a long screech, and threw it's arms and tail wildly off. Its large green-fogged eyes gave way to swirling white and blue, and it dropped to its thin knees, shivering. Sarah was at its side instantly, reaching out to comfort it, but something about the way it stared at her in utter horror stopped her.   
  
  
  
The thought came into her head suddenly, quietly, as if it were one of her own thoughts. From the way Hoggle and Hetta jumped, they heard it too. Jareth, used to this, merely frowned. "What trouble?" he asked quietly.  
  
  
  
"What is this beast?" Jareth stepped closer, pulling Sarah to her feet and sweeping her behind him in one fluid motion. He towered over the shivering creature, waiting.  
  
the last few words were tainted with deep sorrow rather than the frantic fear everything else had been ridden with.   
  
Then, before anyone could question it further, the creature collapsed in a shimmering bundle at Jareth's feet. He frowned down at it, but his eyes were unfocused, as if he were staring at something underneath the body. For a breathless moment, Sarah thought he was going to kick the fragile creature, crush it beneath his boot. Then he turned on his heel and strode away, smoothly wrapping an arm around Sarah's waist and pulling her away with him before she could protest.   
  
"You may go," he told Hoggle and Hetta as he swept past them.  
  
"What about the huri-ha'an?" Sarah demanded as soon as she found her voice again.   
  
"Its people are already on their way to collect it." He informed her curtly, still towing her along down the halls.  
  
"Will it be okay?"  
  
"Of course. They always fall into fits and collapse afterwards. It's part of the Seeing."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, Sarah, quite. I've seen these many times before. They're rather dramatic creatures."  
  
"What did all that mean? Beasts and killing and lies. All I really got out of it was the poor thing was frightened."  
  
"I am not an expert in huri-ha'an prophecy," Jareth told her, opening the doors to their chambers and ushering her in.   
  
"Oh? You mean you admit you don't know everything?" she interrupted lightly, unable to resist this golden opportunity despite the gravity of the situation.  
  
He snorted vaguely, returning to where he had left off. "I know enough, however, to surmise that some kind of beast is out after your blood, or your life energy, in order to summon its sister. It will apparently lie a great deal to the both of us-"  
  
"-and the little one will cry for it's mother." She slid a hand over her abdomen. "That part I understood."  
  
Jareth was silent for a moment. "What truly worries me," he confided, "is that the huri-ha'an didn't seem to think I would be able to detect the lies the beast told me."  
  
"So it's more powerful than even you?"  
  
"Not likely," he retorted sharply. "Not in this Labyrinth. But it must be a terribly cunning beast to do it. Magic is not always required in order to fool the senses."  
  
"So, in a nutshell, we now know that I am in danger from a beast we won't be able to recognize, that could strike at any time." She said flatly.  
  
"No, the creature will have to be in direct contact with us at some point, in order to lie to us. Several times, actually, since the creature implied many lies."  
  
"Well," Sarah said briskly. "That was an interesting evening. I think I'll just go to bed now."  
  
** 


	4. Questions

"When Words Get In The Way"  
Part Four of the 'Words' Saga  
  
**  
  
Part 4  
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve immortality through not dying."  
  
  
"It's fairly early," Jareth asked. "Wouldn't you rather wait for the sun to set?"  
  
"No," she answered with false brightness. "I don't imagine I'll be sleeping much tonight anyway."  
  
"Then why go to bed?"  
  
"Well, since I'm not exactly up to anything else, why don't I just lie there and ponder?"  
  
"Don't fret," he told her sternly. "I command you not to fret. You'll make yourself sick."  
  
"As you command, oh mighty one," she snapped sarcastically, and immediately draped herself across the bed, closing her eyes firmly and folding her hands across her stomach in a business-like way. Jareth smiled slightly. Stubborn woman.   
  
It was silent in the room for a few minutes. Jareth leaned against the window frame and absently conjured a crystal. He tossed it lightly from hand to hand as he watched the sun sinking closer to the horizon.   
  
"Tell me about your family," Sarah murmured suddenly, rolling to her side to look at his silhouette against the gold sky. The crystal froze for a brief moment, and then resumed it's lazy path across his fingertips.   
  
"As most of the fae are related," he said in a detached sort of way, "I'm sure you'd find the story too long to tell."  
  
"Well, don't fill me in on every great-aunt twice removed," she said irritably. "Tell me the highlights. More specifically, tell me about the ones who are coming *here*."  
  
"Titania will come," he said slowly, and she sat up.   
  
"Titania. You know, it's funny, I always thought...I thought Shakespeare made her up."  
  
He turned and smirked at her. "And when did your Aboveground assumptions help you down here?"  
  
She snorted and lay back down. "Who else?"  
  
"Her son - her legitimate son - "Jareth ignored the small giggle from the bed. "Prince Ryo. Known as the Fire Lord; special affinity for fire," he added, sensing her question before she could ask it. "And I believe my grand-aunt, Lady Danielle, will accompany them."  
  
"Is that all?"  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"That's comforting."  
  
"I am a comfortable man?"  
  
Again, she snorted, and rolled over, facing away from him this time. There was another long silence, and Jareth thought she was starting to drift into sleep. He was just about to quietly disappear (literally) and reappear down in the throne room (which would likely give his sleeping goblin sentries a nasty awakening, he thought with relish) when she sat up again.  
  
"Jareth, I thought of something tonight."  
  
He tossed the crystal into the air (where it obediently vanished) and strode to the bed, headed for the door. As he passed her, he threw her an affectionate smirk. "Did you lie down until it passed?"  
  
Sarah was not amused. "Jareth!"  
  
He chuckled. "A simple question, my lady. No need to be cross."  
  
"If you're going to be an ass," she warned, glaring at him.  
  
"No intention of it," he cut her off. "I'm on my best behavior." He paused by the door and bowed slightly. "Please, continue."  
  
"As I was saying," she gave it one last glare for good measure, then allowed her face to relax. "I meant to ask you before, but what with the prophecy and everything...anyway, I was walking through the archways and I noticed ... well ... a mirror. And I just happened to glance into it," she rushed on hastily before he could make some remark about vanity. "I thought that maybe...I wondered if...well..."  
  
He raised an eyebrow as she faltered and looked away. "A speechless Sarah?" he murmured. And then, more seriously, "Is something wrong?"  
  
Nothing to get scared about, she thought bracingly, but the words came out in a breathless rush anyway. "Jareth, does being in the Labyrinth affect the way I age?"  
  
The second eyebrow joined the first, ascending almost to the King's hair, and then both abruptly dropped into a grim frown. Sarah stared stoically at the floor, suddenly inexplicably nervous. And a little frightened. Sensing her distress, Jareth stepped closer and pulled her into the comforting warmth of his arms, resting his chin on her head and looking blankly out the window.   
  
"No."   
  
His voice was gentle, but Sarah flinched nonetheless. "So," her voice broke slightly, she paused and forced herself to get control. "So," she tried again, managing to sound somewhat calm. "In a couple of decades, I'll die, and that will be that?"  
  
His silence was all the answer she needed.   
  
"Were you going to tell me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"When?"   
  
Again, no answer. Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. "What about the baby?"  
  
"The child is born of the Fae, in a Fae land unmarked by mortal time. The child will live as any Fae would."  
  
"Oh." Sarah took a deep breath and nodded reasonably. "Well, as long as you and the baby are all right, I guess it's okay." *Will I be as accepting when I start to grow old?* Sarah had a sudden horrible vision of herself as a wrinkled, gray creature, living in a hovel somewhere far from the Labyrinth and it's King, both of whom she loved more than her own life. Her mind swam with equally horrid pictures of Jareth's eternally youthful face looking at her ancient one with anguish in those unfathomable eyes. *I'd rather leave* she thought fiercely, tears coming to her eyes even so. *I'd rather leave it all behind than put either of us through that - watching me die while he lives untouched.*  
  
"No, it is not 'okay'." Jareth's growl startled her back into the present, and she pushed back the mental images and looked up at him. His eyes were narrowed fiercely, he was looking at her....no, *through* her. Like she was transparent. Then he snapped back into his own body again, and offered her a false smile. "Don't worry about it for now, Sarah. Just relax. You have enough things to fuss about."  
  
"Yeah, like the baby, the stupid prophecy, your family, my family...on second thought, I think I just won't think about my family for awhile. That's a stress I'll save for another day. Right now I'm going to worry about getting ready for your family." She paused, frowning, and Jareth watched in mild amusement as she began mentally ticking off all the things she planned to do to the castle before their guests arrived. He could hear her thoughts now.   
  
*The throne room will definitely need a good going over, it's still a mess from the battle with Erlar; and the City can certainly stand to have a few street sweeper gangs, I'll talk to Hetta about it, Rilum would love to head one himself, and oh! While I'm at it, I'll get those hedge maze guards to trim the hedges, do something useful with those snipper thingies, for once....*  
  
Jareth, personally, took this as a good moment to depart. And he did so, heading for his study and leaving Sarah to her agitated preparations. Most of them, he was sure, would be totally unnecessary, but that was women for you. And in the meantime, it would keep her mind off the problem she had brought up...one he had hoped never to have to deal with.   
  
*Don't be thick* he thought derisively. *You knew it would come sooner or later.* It had just happened to be sooner. So now what was he going to do about it? The thought of losing his wife after only a few precious years tore at his once cold heart. True, she could be a royal headache at times, especially with this pregnancy (although it was possible that was only an excuse to be willful and sarcastic - the most delightful thing about Sarah was her volatility) but the truth was Jareth held her as the most valuable thing in the Labyrinth. In his life.   
  
And soon he would lose her.  
  
The idea was not to be borne.  
  
"There is a way!" He slammed a gloved fist on the polished top of his desk, upsetting a few papers and quills. He ignored them, striding to the fireplace, and sure enough, a few minutes later a goblin peeked in the door, saw Jareth's back turned, and scurried to the mess on the floor. Swiftly, the papers and quills were returned to their usual neat spots on the desk, and the door only slammed slightly as the goblin scrambled back out.   
  
Jareth stood gazing into the snapping flames long into the night.  
  
** 


	5. Answers...or not

"When Words Get In The Way"  
Part Four of the 'Words' Saga  
  
**  
  
Part 5  
"While intelligent people often simplify the complex, a fool is more likely to complicate the simple."  
  
  
True to her word, Sarah went to bed, and stayed there for a good part of the afternoon, staring at the ceiling and letting her thoughts run. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not drift into anything resembling sleep. She'd summoned a goblin servant and had given him an explicitly detailed list of things to do in preparation for her in-laws.   
  
The creature had scampered off to comply at once, but even then Sarah couldn't feel totally at ease. She'd pondered the prophecy instead, but hadn't gotten any farther than what Jareth had told her.   
  
So she stared at the ceiling and tried to sleep.  
  
Fat chance.  
  
Finally, with a frustrated sigh, she sat up again and swung her legs to the ground. *That does it. I'm not getting any rest just lying here. I might as well go do something constructive. Or destructive. Whichever is more convenient.*  
  
So she'd put on a light cloak and made her way out of the castle, pausing to instruct a goblin to inform the King she had gone to see the Wise Man.  
  
Outside, the sun was just beginning to set, and the gentle breezes stirred the nearby trees and carried with them faint raucous laughter and shrieks. Sounded like a Firey party to her...in that case, she'd just look for the Wise Man elsewhere. He was usually somewhere in the hedge maze, but sometimes she found him down by the junkyards or on one occasion, in the courtyard itself.   
  
It wasn't going to be that easy this time. She made her way down through the City and past the junkyards, only sparing a cursory glance through the rubble for the Wise Man. She tore her eyes away quickly though. Pity raged in her belly, as it always did, when she caught a glimpse of the hunched creatures shuffling through their miserable lives under heaps of old junk.   
  
They were happy though, in their own sad way. So she pushed back the pity and averted her eyes. Live and let live, after all.  
  
But if Sarah had raised her eyes as she all but ran past the junkyards, she might have seen the shadow passing through the lumbering piles of junk-laden creatures. If she hadn't been so occupied with finding the Wise Man, she might have noticed that the breeze that shifted and blew around her body didn't extend to the bushes and shrubs growing haphazardly across the ground.   
  
But even had she looked, she probably would not have seen the flicker of dark-light that glimmered in that shadow's eyes before the last sun's rays hit the spot and the shadow dissipated.  
  
****  
  
"You don't understand what it means."   
  
"No," Sarah said for the third time, desperately holding on to her patience. She ran a finger over her pendant, resisting the urge to just wish the old creature into clarity.   
  
But she'd promised herself long ago never to use her powers to manipulate another living creature, and she wasn't about to break that vow. So she grit her teeth and waited for the infuriating old man to say something pertinent.  
  
"He's having a quick day, he is," the Hat chirped cheerily. "Can see it on his face."  
  
"Ahem!" the Wise Man glared in the general upward vicinity.   
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Well, then." The Wise Man harrumphed a few more times. "You want me to tell you what it means."  
  
"Yes," Sarah nodded, and cast forth a prayer that he would not repeat himself another three times.   
  
"You want *me* to tell you what the prophecy means."  
  
"Yes." Her voice was almost desperate.  
  
"Tell me the prophecy."  
  
Mentally thanking whatever deity had heard her plea, she carefully repeated every word she could remember to the ancient one.  
  
He sat very still for a time, so long that she feared he'd drifted off again, and even the Hat was silent.  
  
Then the Wise Man leaned forward, until his long craggy nose was almost touching Sarah's considerably smaller one, and his bushy eyebrows lowered into a glare.   
  
"To the creatures of the Labyrinth, things are never as they appear, young lady. But illusion does not rest here. It is everywhere. And sometimes, the greatest illusion of all is when things are exactly what they seem to be..."  
  
As he spoke, his words had gotten slower and slower, and on the last 'be' he had slumped in his chair, and was apparently fast asleep again.  
  
"Huh," the Hat tilted its bird head curiously. "I've never heard him say so much all together before. You must have sparked some real thinking in his old head."   
  
Sarah slammed her clenched hands into her thighs distractedly. "But he didn't make any *sense.*"  
  
"You can't expect miracles, now, can you?"  
  
And that was that.   
  
** 


	6. The Pleasure's All Yours

"When Words Get In The Way"  
Part Four of the 'Words' Saga  
  
**  
  
Part 6  
"He that has no fools, knaves, nor beggars in his family was begot by a flash of lightening."  
  
  
It was dark by the time she reached the Castle again. The moon was only just rising over the dark mountains, changing the distant waterfall that cascaded down into a rippling surge of silver.   
  
The elaborate carriage sitting outside the huge front doors of the Castle, however, greatly overshadowed the distant phenomenon.   
  
Sarah stopped and stared at it. It was the size and shape of a train car, oddly rectangular and made of many shades of green all flowing together in the evening light. But its corners were carefully crafted; every inch of the thing was covered in a swirling, ornate gold design. The windows were covered in shimmering gold cloth, with small rainbows chasing up and down inside the weaving. Gold trappings jangled from every conceivable place, even from the bridles of the two matching delicate golden horses.  
  
Sarah swallowed and furrowed her forehead. There was only place that fantasy carriage could have come from.  
  
It looked like Jareth's family had arrived.  
  
Sarah felt a sudden, absurd flash of nerves. That was silly, though. She was the one of the most powerful beings in the Labyrinth, and besides that this was *her* home, and she was Lady here, the Queen of the Labyrinth, a creature worthy of respect and power herself. Just then, the carriage door opened, and the Queen of the Labyrinth dove behind a nearby statue and watched as the carriage's occupants began to emerge.   
  
The first to appear was tall, with a figure to make poets weep and the grace of a she-panther. The gleam of her fair skin made the golden garriage look suddenly dull by comparison. She was clothed in the most exquisite dress Sarah had ever seen; gold and silver and cream all flawlessly melded together. Her sun-gold hair glittered with tiny gems that had been woven into the elaborate coiffure, and her eyes - from what Sarah could see - were large and dark. This woman could be none other than the Queen of the Fae herself, Titania.  
  
After a few moments of staring in awed fascination, Sarah ripped her eyes away to watch the figure descending behind her. Tall, lithe, and dark, he carried himself smoothly, but there was something distant about his manner, something cold and aloof. His clothing wasn't overly fancy, but the gold trim woven in the outline of exquisite dancing flames on his long coat proved beyond all doubt that he was no mere commoner. Long, dark hair was pulled back into a queue, and like Titania, his eyes appeared to be dark as well. The graceful face structure was reminiscent of Titania's delicate features; if Sarah was correct in her guess, she was looking at Ryo, only *legitimate* son of King Oberon.   
  
*It's a shame his only son couldn't have been someone a little more friendly-looking,* Sarah thought, surprised at her own dourness.  
  
"I see my cousin hasn't improved his kingdom at all since we last visited," Ryo commented dryly, looking down his nose at a squat goblin. "You would think he would take more pride in his lands." He kicked the dirt in front of him with mild disgust. "Then again, considering the dregs he has to work with, I suppose I can understand his lack of motivation."  
  
*Why you bigheaded son of a...* Sarah scowled angrily at the haughty Fae. Hadn't improved?! There had been nothing wrong with it in the first place - and if there had been, well, the entire *Labyrinth* had been reformed after Obadiah's attack! It was more beautiful now than it had ever been, especially with the moon pouring silver light over everything. Sarah bit back the urge to march right out and tell this arrogant jerk exactly what she thought about the 'dregs' of this kingdom - and him as well, while she was at it.  
  
"Ryo, what Jareth decides to do with his kingdom is his own affair," Titania said, glancing at her son reprovingly, and Sarah's anger faded in the music of that voice. She had never heard anything so sweet, so solemn, and yet, so glittering and strong. Titania ran a slender-fingered hand over her glowing gown and spoke again. "I'm sure his wife will make some changes for the better."  
  
"Not likely," Ryo scoffed. "In case you'd forgotten, Mother, Jareth's wife is a mortal woman. Most likely, she will make things worse than they already are. Have you seen what mortals like to decorate their pathetic little gardens with? Pink birds - *dead* pink birds!" He spoke with the utmost of revulsion.  
  
*Flamingos, you twit.* Sarah breathed once, heavily, through her nose. *They're pink flamingos, and I'd sooner tear down the Labyrinth before I put one of those things up.*  
  
By that point, a third person was emerging from the elaborate green carriage. Her garments were made of the same wispy, ephemeral material as the queen, but not quite as extravagant in style. She also had the same graceful, willowy figure, though there was an added quality to her demeanor that Sarah couldn't quite place. Her dark hair was liberally threaded with silver, a sign of her age, but her skin still looked as fair and smooth as someone much younger. When she spoke, there was a warmth in her voice that was lacking in those of her two companions.  
  
"It is an unwise thing to do, insulting a king, his kingdom, *and* his wife in front of the new queen," the woman remarked, sounding vaguely amused. Titania and Ryo both turned to look at her, and Sarah was gaping in disbelief.  
  
"What do you mean?" Titania asked. "Jareth's wife is here? I have not seen anyone besides goblins."  
  
"She has been hiding over there behind that statue from the start of your conversation," Danielle replied smoothly, gesturing to Sarah's hiding spot. Ryo took a few steps nearer.  
  
"I see no one," he stated. In a louder voice, he called, "Show yourself!"  
  
All traces of panic vanished. Whether or not Ryo was the son of the Fae King, he was still talking to a queen - mortal or not - and his rudeness was not to be tolerated. Drawing herself up angrily, Sarah stepped out of her hiding spot and regarded the fae coolly.  
  
"Welcome," she said, for all the world as if she hadn't just been found eavesdropping like a curious child. "Jareth and I have been...looking forward to your visit."  
  
"Good evening," Titania greeted, nodding her head fractionally. She smiled pleasantly, if formally. "We have also been looking forward to meeting you. A mortal queen in this land is...unusual."  
  
"*Very* unusual," Ryo muttered. Danielle frowned at the younger man, then stepped forward and took Sarah's hands in her own, smiling warmly like any grandmother would when greeting part of the family.  
  
"Good evening, child," she said, ignoring Sarah's look of surprise. "You're every bit as pretty as I had imagined you would be. Sorry to have startled you as I did, pointing out your hiding place, but I'm sure you would agree that it is a little more dignified for the Queen of the Underground to welcome her guests formally, rather than hide from them." That tone of friendly amusement was in her voice again, and Sarah found herself smiling in response.  
  
"Yes, you're right," she agreed, chuckling softly. "But how did you know?"  
  
Guessing Sarah's thoughts - which were leaning toward some sort of magical divination - Danielle explained, "I saw you duck behind that statue as soon as you saw our carriage, nothing more mysterious than that."  
  
Before Sarah could reply, the castle doors opened and Jareth emerged, clothed in much better finery than his wife (who hadn't been anticipating stumbling across his family at this time of day).  
  
"My Lady," he bowed deeply to Titania, nodding equably to Ryo (who turned, Sarah noted, a very peculiar shade of pink and barely managed to hide the glower that flashed across his elegant features). Then his smile turned only slightly less formal and he bowed again to the elder Fae. "My Lady Danielle," he murmured, and she smiled kindly at him.  
  
"There you are, grand-nephew, making your usual dramatic entrance."  
  
"You wound me, my Lady," he placed a hand over his heart and favored them all with an extravagant hurt look. "I wish only to greet you in a style befitting those of your stature. And," he added, "Of my own kin."  
  
"A flatterer, as always." Titania observed, not without a slight smile of her own. Jareth inclined his head to acknowledge, and then seemed to suddenly notice Sarah. (*As if he hadn't seen me here the whole time.*) He smirked slightly over Danielle's head, and she allowed herself one frustrated glower before composing her face and offering Titania a gentile smile. The Queen returned the gesture, but to a much more reserved degree.   
  
Sarah glanced at the darker fae, debating mentally for a moment, and then offered him a smile as well. He stared at her as if she had just done something unforgivably rude. The smile faded from Sarah's face. The prince's scowl deepened, and he glanced up at his cousin. "This is your wife?" he demanded. "I'm shocked, cousin," He spat the word as if it were the worst insult he could think of. "If you were going to pollute the royal blood, you could at least have chosen an *acceptable* mortal."  
  
Sarah's face instantly went red, with anger or embarrassment, she didn't know. Both.   
  
Jareth, on the other hand, didn't bat an eyelash. He didn't even look at Ryo, but to his side, where the Queen of the Fae stood looking vaguely shocked at her son's bad manners. "Your Majesty," he said calmly. "I advise you to fire your tutor. He has failed abysmally to teach young Ryo proper manners."  
  
"I do *not* have a tutor!" Ryo said angrily, coloring almost as red as Sarah. "I am older than you!"  
  
"Then pray act as such," Danielle said smoothly, her composure regained. She smiled slightly to Sarah, and her left eyelid almost seemed to drop into...Sarah blinked, momentarily distracted. She'd never seen a fae actually wink before.  
  
Jareth took the short silence that followed as an opportunity to cut in again. "Please, ladies, my lord, do come inside. You must be terribly weary after your long trip, so I have taken the liberty of arranging a modest repast for you."  
  
"That would be delightful," Danielle told him jovially, taking his proffered arm. "And I must say, your new lady wife is quite the lovely creature. How in the underground did you fall in with her?"  
  
"A long tale, my lady," Jareth told her, leading her towards the large doors. "Perhaps best told over a long meal?"  
  
Ryo offered his arm to his mother, who took it coolly, nodding again to Sarah as they swept past.   
  
"M...m'lady?"   
  
Sarah jumped and glanced down...way down....one of the goblin pages was fidgeting nervously from foot to grimy foot, clutching the front of his dirty coat with tense fingers.   
  
"Yes?"  
  
"W...would m'lady like to be escorted in too?"   
  
Sarah smothered a smile. Wouldn't that be a picture, her stooped over almost to the ground, on the rather short arm of the miniscule servant...the very young, minuscule servant, from the looks of him. Sarah crouched to her heels and looked the little guy square in the eyes. "My thanks to you, good sir. But I do believe I will be skipping the meal this evening."  
  
"As m'lady wishes," he squeaked, sounding rather relieved.  
  
"But I pray you will deliver a message for me?"  
  
"Yes, m'lady?"  
  
"Tell the King I have some business to attend, but I will be back before midnight. Can you do that for me?"  
  
"Of course, m'lady. I'll tell 'im anythin' you want...even if he...kicks me for it, m'lady."  
  
"You're a terribly brave one," she told him, rising to her feet. "Thank you, my good sir, and I shall remember your courage someday, hmm?"  
  
"Thanks, m'lady." The page bowed and scraped until Sarah just knew he was going to be permanently crooked, and then finally scampered off to deliver her message. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief - it was hard keeping up that grand lady pretense. If it was this tough around goblin servants, how in the world would she manage it around Jareth's Fae relatives?   
  
She watched the grimy goblin disappear around the large, grandiose carriage, which was now being led away by several small stable dwarves, and suddenly laughed out loud. The man who had ridden in that carriage, a handsome, powerful fae prince, had been the rudest, most obnoxious being she had ever met inside the Labyrinth - but the tiny, ugly, filthy goblin page had screwed up his courage to show her the manners of a true gentleman.   
  
So far, it had been an interesting sort of day.  
  
*I need a long walk*, she thought, and headed for the gardens. *The longer, the better.*  
  
*** 


	7. Riddles

"When Words Get In The Way"  
Part Four of the 'Words' Saga  
  
**  
  
Part 7  
"Accept me as I am, and only then will we discover each other."  
  
  
Sarah crossed her arms protectively around her stomach, and wished herself to be warm. Instantly, the warmth trickled down from her hands and spread all over her body. She sighed, savoring the delicious feeling, and then opened her eyes again to watch the stars glitter above her.   
  
*I really ought to get inside* she thought. But what was she going to tell Jareth? That the Wise Man couldn't tell her squat? He probably already knew that, but somehow, saying it out loud would make it seem so much more hopeless. Besides, he'd probably be waiting for her in the throne room again, and unless she was very mistaken, their guests would be with him. If she went in, as Queen she would be obligated to sit with her guests and entertain them. And put up with that...that...Ryo character. No, she'd wait it out a little longer. It was a nice night, after all.   
  
So she put it off, just a few more minutes, gliding around through the gardens aimlessly. She paused at the fountain in the center, and stood up on the edge of the pool to look out over the tall flower bushes and hedges. In the distance rose the dark mountains to the south, complete with cascading waterfall. The falls looked like a huge silver ribbon left dangling carelessly over the edge of the foreboding cliffs. If she concentrated, she could almost hear the water falling-  
  
-a dark object loomed up into her face, blocking out everything else in her vision. She yelped, falling back, off the fountain ledge onto the ground. She landed hard on her rump, knocking the wind from her body.   
  
*What? Attack! My baby! NO!* She shrieked mentally, unable to do so aloud.  
  
Incoherent thoughts and fears raced through her brain, and then....then....  
  
Then she realized that the black shape was gone - she was sitting sprawled out on the cold stone floor of the garden walkway, staring instead at a funny looking girl. The girl (child really, she looked about twelve) was crouching on her heels, watching Sarah with a contrite expression on her face. "Is the Queen hurt?" she asked softly, in a quiet voice.  
  
"Huh? N...No, I'm okay." Sarah mentally checked herself...nope, everything was fine. Save for a bruised sense of dignity and a slightly less sore rear end. She pulled herself to her feet and hesitantly took a step closer to the stranger. The child rose to her feet too, looking up at Sarah with wide, black eyes. Her hair, waist long, wispy white, hung down around her body loosely, and several strands fell into her eyes. Her skin was almost as pale as her hair, almost glowing in the rising moonlight. Her clothes were a costume of glittering rags that hung off her small body like the tattered reminders of finery. Her feet were bare, and she seemed to have nothing but the clothes she wore and a small black hoop earring in her right ear.   
  
*She looks like one of the flower fairies* Sarah realized with a start. *Only bigger* She opened her mouth to ask if the girl was, indeed, one of the biting creatures, but the child, who had been studying the Queen just as intently, whirled and disappeared into the flower bushes.  
  
"Wait!" Sarah called, running after her. "Wait! I won't hurt you! Who are you?"  
  
She paused, panting slightly, at a turn in the path, and just as suddenly as she had gone, the child was back, standing a few feet away.   
  
"I am myself, only that. No one is only herself."  
  
Sarah straightened. "Huh?" And then, thinking this was hardly the kind of question a queen would ask a potential subject, straightened up and repeated, with more dignity, "What do you mean?"  
  
The girl laughed and darted back into the shadows. Sarah took a hesitant step forward, trying to see into the gloom. She nearly jumped out of her skin when the voice came again directly behind her. "I meant only to answer your question."  
  
Sarah whirled to find herself inches away from the glittering black eyes. She blinked in surprise, and suddenly the girl was perched on a nearby rock, watching her with that perpetually amused expression. *Calm down* Sarah ordered herself. *Remember what Hoggle said. You have to ask the right questions.* "Okay then," she said aloud. "What is your name?"  
  
"Ah," the girl raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't the queen remember? No one has told her."  
  
"So then why don't *you* tell me?"  
  
This time the girl merely threw her head back and laughed, and Sarah revised her earlier opinion that the stranger was a larger version of the flower fairies. The little biters didn't laugh like that, deep and hearty, from the gut. They laughed (when they laughed at all - usually when tormenting some larger creature) with delicate tinny sounds. Who, then, was this stranger? Sarah let loose a frustrated sigh. "I guess I still don't know the right questions."  
  
"Or perhaps the queen does not know the right answers?" The stranger cocked her head to the side. "No one knows the answers, though."  
  
"I'm beginning to think no one does." Sarah agreed, flopping to the ground and leaning back against the wall. "Jareth isn't going to be happy when I go in tonight. The Wise Man can't tell me anything useful. Well, maybe that's no surprise. But it's distressing that no one can tell me what's going on. Even Jareth doesn't know what that strange warning meant." She closed her eyes tiredly, missing the slightly exasperated expression that crossed the stranger's face briefly.   
  
"How long have you been in the Labyrinth, by the way? I've been here a good few months and I've never seen you before." Sarah cracked an eye open. "You aren't related to the flower fairies, by any chance? You look like them."  
  
The stranger drew her legs up to her chest and grinned impishly. "I do not bite." Sarah laughed appreciatively. The girl rested her chin on her knee. "No one has been here awhile, but I stay away from the castle."  
  
"Well, you've definitely been here for awhile. You already sound like a Labyrinth inhabitant, always talking in riddles and nonsense." Sarah opened both eyes and glared around at the hedge walls in annoyance. "No one can answer a straight question!"  
  
"Exactly."   
  
Sarah turned her head sharply back to the girl. "What?"  
  
Again, that playful laughter. "The Queen still does not recognize the answers? She has not been here too long herself. Or mayhap the Queen is in her castle too often. No one has faith in the Queen, though. She will learn."  
  
"Tell me, have you ever met the Wise Man? Old guy, walks really slow, has a big bird on his head, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever? You ought to, I think you'd get along well." Sarah told her acerbically. "Actually, I think maybe you're a little more confusing than he is."  
  
"No one thanks you for that complement, Queen."  
  
"Good for them," she said shortly. "And please, call me Sarah. I get that 'Queen' thing way too often of late." She paused for a moment, then decided to take one more shot at it. "Please, what can I call you?"  
  
Suddenly, the stranger was gone. Sarah sat up straight, startled, and stifled a scream as a dark form loomed up out of the gloom. A bright light flashed in her face, blinding her.  
  
"Lady Sarah?"  
  
She wanted to cry with relief. "Danielle."  
  
"I apologize for frightening you." The Fae woman leaned down, offering a hand. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." Sarah let her pull her to her feet. "Were you looking for me?"  
  
"No, just wandering the gardens. I'm so glad you restored them. I always did love them the best. Jareth's mother worked so hard in them once, back and back. They were the only thing she really loved about this kingdom- besides its power."   
  
"It's hard to imagine someone who murdered her own family as loving anything. Especially not flowers and gardens."  
  
Danielle shot her a hooded glance. "So you know the story?"  
  
Sarah nodded. She'd heard the old story about Jareth's mother a few months ago, during one of her frequent hours in the massive castle library. Jareth's mother had been an exceptionally rotten person, killing her own brother and father in a failed attempt to take over the kingdom. She had apparently been very vengeful and bloodthirsty, and had used every weapon available in the fight - including her infant son, Jareth. Sarah had never met her, but from her reading, she didn't think to highly of her.  
  
Danielle seemed almost to sigh, and then said quietly, "People are surprisingly complicated, Lady Sarah. If I've learned anything from my long centuries of existence, I've learned that you can never judge things based on their appearance. Particularly if you have never seen them."   
  
Sarah nodded.  
  
"Tell me, Lady Sarah, who were you speaking to when I came up just a moment ago?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh...er....no one, I guess." Sarah paused, and then slapped her hand to her forehead. "No one! Oh, geez! NOW I get it."  
  
"Lady Sarah?" Danielle furrowed her brow in confusion.   
  
"Nothing, never mind." Sarah waved a hand.   
  
"Perhaps we had better return to the castle? You must of course be especially careful until Jareth has caught that beast. And you might take a chill out here, my dear," she added.   
  
"You go ahead. I'll be along in a moment."  
  
Danielle nodded, and then turned to make her way back to the castle. Sarah watched her go, frowning slightly. Something that Danielle had said didn't seem quite right...  
  
A hand brushed her face, and Sarah gasped. Then her eyes adjusted to the dark again, and she let out another whoosh of air in relief. "You again. I wish you wouldn't sneak up like that. It's almost like you just appear in front of me."   
  
"Sorry. No one is simply a quick mover." The girl shrugged apologetically.  
  
"And why didn't you tell me that No one is your NAME?" Sarah accused. "Oh wait..." she trailed off as the girl grinned triumphantly. "I guess you did, huh? I just didn't get it...'didn't understand the answer' ...oh, now I feel like a moron."  
  
This time, No one practically howled with mirth, holding her sides and rocking back and forth on her heels.  
  
"Very funny," Sarah growled, but she couldn't help cracking a grin, too. The girl's laughter was very infectious.  
  
"No one knew the queen would figure it out...eventually."  
  
"It would have been a lot easier if you didn't speak in third person."   
  
"No one enjoys it."  
  
"Exactly," Sarah grumbled.  
  
No one leaned back against a hedge wall, crossing her arms in mimicry of Sarah's own stance. "Why is the Queen sitting outside talking to No one?"  
  
"The Queen is having a phenomenally bad day. In fact, the Queen in seriously considering hiring a royal therapist."  
  
No one cocked an eyebrow in confusion, and now it was Sarah's turn to laugh. "Don't worry about it. They don't exist here anyway."  
  
"The Queen will tell No one about her fin-nomy-nally bad day?"  
  
"Call me Sarah, No one. And if you really want to know -well, to sum it up: I'm married - to a Fae Goblin King no less - and my family only just found out about it...um...today. My husband's family just arrived to meet and greet the new arrival, and one of them has already made it very clear exactly what he thinks about a mortal messing up the bloodlines..." she grimaced as she remembered the blatantly disdainful look on Ryo's face. "...AND a prophet has recently told me a riddle about a beast using my life to summon a creature, or maybe it was a creature to summon...something, anyway. It's all very vague. Oh, and to top it all off, I'm pregnant, and thus subject to horrendous hormonal imbalances..." She shook her head.  
  
No one stepped closer and put her arms around Sarah suddenly, in a brief gentle hug. Sarah stiffened with surprise for a moment, then relaxed, oddly touched by the unexpected display of affection.   
  
"No one understands," the girl whispered as she drew away. "No one will help Sarah."  
  
"You know, that doesn't sound as depressing as it ought to," Sarah told her lightly.   
  
No one frowned deeply, all traces of laughter gone from her face now. She leaned forward, balancing precariously on her rocky perch, until her nose was almost touching Sarah's, and locked Sarah's dark eyes with her own. "The Queen is in danger," No one whispered intently. "The beast...the beast is not the danger. Not...really. The King will grieve and the Labyrinth with him, until they, too, die from a broken heart. And No one will be sad. No one likes the Labyrinth, and it's Queen. No one would help stop the beast, without killing the Queen. But no one can do it alone. No one cannot."  
  
"Wait, say that last part again," Sarah broke out from the spell No one's eyes cast and bit her lip in puzzlement. "You've lost me, now. Oh, will everyone please stop talking in riddles? Just once?"  
  
"No one speaks in riddles because No one can speak no other way. No one is sorry, Sarah."  
  
"Okay, hang on, let's try to solve this logically, alright? The beast is on the loose, right?"  
  
No one nodded.   
  
"Great. Now, what IS the beast? It isn't one of Jareth's creatures, is it? Something from the Labyrinth?"  
  
"No. Not the King's. The King's father's."  
  
"The King's father's...Obadiah!"  
  
No one nodded again.  
  
"NOW we're getting somewhere. Okay, so Obadiah had some beast, and now that's he's dead...let me guess, the thing is after me."  
  
Another nod.  
  
"I knew it. It's always me. Oh damn!" Sarah threw up her hands. "It's not-" she stopped and heaved a sigh. "No. It isn't. It's never fair. I of all people should know that by now. But why DOES it always happen to me?"  
  
"Magic calls to magic," No one intoned solemnly. "Power attracts power, and that attracts more power. The King and Queen are powerful people. They live in a powerful place, surrounded by powerful people and creatures. The baby inside the Queen has the beginnings of power. So they attract powerful friends. And enemies."  
  
"Wonderful. Just what I needed to hear."   
  
"No one apologizes, but No one speaks the truth, nonetheless."  
  
"I know, and I thank you for it. So tell me, No one. What is this beast?"   
  
No one froze, and then a shudder raked through her body. "No one?" Sarah asked, reaching out a hand.   
  
The girl looked up again, and said very softly, "The Queen should be afraid of the beast." She paused and swallowed, as if forcing herself to speak more. "The beast...and its Friend."  
  
Sarah leaned forward and laid a hand carefully on No one's thin shoulder. "Are you alright?" She wished silently for a handkerchief, and instantly it appeared in her hand. She held it out to the girl.  
  
"No one is okay. No one is afraid of..." She shivered and sniffed suddenly, scratching at her nose. "No one doesn't want Sarah to be hurt." She looked downright miserable, rubbing her nose hard and sniffing. But she pushed the handkerchief away, gingerly, as if it were a bomb. "No one must go, now. Good night, Queen Sarah."  
  
"Good night - "  
  
But she was speaking to empty air.  
  
** 


End file.
